- On lawns, don't use fertilisers with a very high nitrogen content during summer as this causes soft growth which will result in fungal infection during the warm, humid evenings.
- Fertilisers high in nitrogen salts such as urea should be used
sparingly to avoid fertiliser burn.
- Use fertilisers strictly in accordance with their recommendations. Using more than suggested will not make plants grow any better.
- NPK fertilisers normally have a ratio attached to the numbers such as 10-10-10; this is the ratio of the N, P and K to each other in the fertiliser. N is nitrogen and is required for green growth of the plant, P is phosphate which is used for root formation and K is potassium which is used in the production of flowers, fruit and to strengthen the cell walls of the plant.
- Always water your lawn and shrubbery well straight after
fertilising to wash the fertiliser from the leaves and prevent
burning.
- Fertilisers have a tendency to leach quickly from the soil in the UAE, so use less fertiliser than recommended, but more frequently.
- Liquid fertilisers are extremely effective and are readily absorbed into plants when applied as a foliar feed.
- Plants with fertiliser burn to their roots exhibit the same symptoms as those that are over watered. Basal leaves turn yellow and drop off, accompanied by wilting of the plant.
- Organic fertilisers offer less likelihood of burning plants, but some, such as chicken manure, should be well decomposed before use to prevent burning.
— Courtesy www.dubaigardencentre.com
